Making it Fun and Competitive

The original location of this article is on soccerbible.net
There are two types of fun; running around and goofing around type of fun and the competitive “I’m going to kick your ass” type of fun. These are two radically different types of fun and the coach and team must make the decision early in the season what type of team they are to be as this dictates what type of training and ultimately what type of play the team will have.

Certainly, there is a place for going out to just kick a ball around with very little instruction. This environment will have a lot of laughing and joking. This is certainly more of a recreational environment. That is not to say that this is not an acceptable environment, it is simply not one that will lead to competitive, aggressive dominant teams.

Within the competitive training environment, it must be understood that there is a great deal of fun to be had, however it is fun in a different manner than fun is commonly thought of. When players learn that hard work is fun, that becoming an excellent technical player is fun and when they learn that winning a game while possessing the entire game is fun, then the team is on their way. This is not easy at first and demands high expectations from the coach.

A team training to be competitive should be focused in this manner. The players will arrive at practice, it will begin on time, they will warm up on their own early and ninety minutes of the session will be productive, competitive and lead to true development. The players will have fun as they learn the importance of dedication, hard work and discipline. As they learn this and the session shifts to game play they be having fun playing competitively and will leave practice with a sense of accomplishment.

The interesting thing however, is that once this training environment is set it is far easier and more acceptable to have a part of the training session where the games are ridiculous, the rules are ludicrous, and the players are laughing hysterically. The trainer can often be involved in some way, working and playing; being part of the insanity. This shift if often great for the players as they see a more relaxed side of the coach/trainer rather than the focused demanding side which often is shown. Sometimes this is needed, maybe for an entire session depending on what a team is going through at a given moment. It must be understood however that this is to be exception to the rule rather than the general mood of training.

Final Thoughts on Training

A training session must then be focused and detailed with a set purpose. It is to be clear and concise to the players. It must be organized and within the session must exist a competitive desire which builds in the players the winning mentality. The session should focus on building the players skill and not on winning; that is secondary and will come with player development. Set up training sessions properly and teams will begin to succeed.